F 1786 
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Reform 



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ensure 



J'or the 

Ssianci of Cuba. 



TEXT 



NEW REFORM MEASUR 



U 



FOR THE 



ISLAND OK CUBA. 



"EXPOSITORY PREAMBLE" axd "ROYAL DECREE." 



COMMENTARY— STATEMENTS BY PUBLIC 
MEN— EXPRESSIONS OF OPINION. 



ENGLISH VERSION BY 



ANTONIO CUYAS. 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY THE ASSOCIATED SPANISH AND CUBAN PRESS. 

1897. 



EXPOSITORY PREAHBLE. 



t()UR MAJESTY: Ever since Your Majesty's con- 
fidence was reposed in the present Ministry the 
war in Cuba has been the object of its constant anxiety, 
which was later heightened by the rebellion in the Philip- 
pine Archipelago. To-day the end of the latter seems to 
be near; and although no precise date can be predeter- 
mined for the ending of the Cuban insurrection, its 
evident abatement suffices to warrant certain measures in 
anticipation of and adequate to the probable course of 
events. 

It is important, Your Majesty, that the facts anteceding 
these events be borne in mind. It is daily becoming more 
evident that the protracted conspiracy which preceded the 
war was not entered into with the end in view of obtaining 
any concessions compatible with Spanish sovereignty, as 
there exists ample documentary evidence to prove that the 
promoters of said conspiracy never contemplated anything 
but the independence of the Island. So manifestly was this 
their aim that, as is well known, the Reform Law of March 
15, 1895, which was supported in the Cortes with such 
good faith by all political parties, Peninsular and Cuban, far 
from restraining the revolutionary movement, hastened its 
outbreak, it being the purpose of the conspirators to prevent 
the beneficial effects of said law from exerting any direct 
or indirect influence toward the maintenance of peace. 
Thus, forcibly, the Spanish nation, which had long before 
granted to its Antilles all the political rights unanimously 



accepted by modern civilization, and which, at the very 
time when its sovereignty began to be combatted, was 
endeavoring to establish certain reform measures, indis- 
putably liberal and in the direction of self-government, 
was obliged to take up arms in defence of the integrity of 
its territory. Some persons were led by their generous 
spirit to believe at first that by merely putting the reforms 
into practical operation the plans of the conspirators 
would be baffled; but the majority of Spaniards soon 
became convinced that we had to deal with another 
separatist war, the inefficiency of which would have to be 
demonstrated before the concessions contained in the 
Reform Law could give any useful results. To this con- 
viction and to the manifest impossibility — soon afterward 
created by the war — of introducing a new regime in 
Cuba, when the established one could barely be enforced, 
was due the postponement in putting the reforms into 
effect; a postponement which was not voluntary, there- 
fore, but unavoidable. And since the settlement of the 
matter was intrusted to the force of arms, not through 
choice of the mother country, but much against her 
wishes, it has been necessary for us to wait until arms 
should determine the precise moment in which to employ 
other means dictated by reason and justice. 

Of course the Reform Law, which had been approved by 
the Cortes (Congress), was never to be considered a finality 
in an evolution initiated by the metropolis with so much 
forethought and such sincerity. The doubt might have 
been entertained at one time whether it would have been 
advantageous even to the residents of the Antilles for 
them to enter suddenly on an autonomic form of govern- 
ment, in view of the ill effects of precipitate action in such 
matters. 

Without going further than Cuba, we see that such 
ill effects had already been experienced in the matter 
of the sudden and unlimited freedom of the press, which 



was so largely instrumental in bringing about the insur- 
rection. 

All this notwithstanding, what Spanish or foreign 
statesman could suppose that where such liberal political 
rights existed, the mother country would be niggardly in 
granting administrative reforms to work in harmony with 
the political laws ? No, it could not in good faith be 
assumed that the Reform Law of March 15, 1895, was a 
finality. It is evident, on the contrary, that the only 
limit not to be exceeded in the granting of concessions 
could and should be no other than that pointed out to Your 
Majesty's Government by the inexorable duty of pre- 
serving- the nation's heritage. 

But, as has been seen, to destroy the latter without any 
regard whatsoever to Spain's historical rights in the prem- 
ises has been the chief intent of the rebels. They pur- 
posely ignored all peaceful means whereby they could, 
while in the free exercise of political rights, establish 
an administrative autonomy on solid bases. Instead of 
that they pandered to the impatient longings of the youth 
of the land; they excited the most anarchical passions; 
they denied all value to the advantages already acquired; 
they fostered the most unconquerable pessimism on the 
one hand, while on the other they aroused the most chi- 
merical hopes. By such means they succeeded in having 
the above-mentioned law, which had been so enthusiasti- 
cally passed by the Cortes, received both in Cuba and 
Porto Rico with indifference, if not with disdain, and in 
spreading the insurrectionary conflagration. 

Some time has elapsed since those events. The war, 
with its manifold disasters, has been fruitful in severe les- 
sons to all the well-disposed inhabitants of the Island of 
Cuba. Nor is it impossible that there should be a 
reawakening of the fraternal feeling so long dormant, but 
which among people of the same race can never be 
entirelv extinguished; and certainly the persuasion that, 

— 3 — 



after all, a peaceful and steady progress, though not sat- 
isfying every aspiration, is preferable to the triumphs of 
violence, no matter by whom obtained, is daily gaining 
ground. 

Coincident with this there is evidently vanishing the 
mistaken opinion that Spain would be unable to carry on 
another war like the former one, an opinion held by 
those who, basing their judgment on insufficient data, 
attributed our magnanimity in Morocco to impotency, and 
who therefore thought that the struggle with the metrop- 
olis would be easy and of brief duration. The documents 
taken on various occasions from the insurgents prove con- 
clusively that at one time even they were led into the 
same error, they who are our own brothers, and who 
therefore should never for a moment have doubted the 
firmness and virility of those of their race in the mother 
country. 

In the meantime it is well known that, although Spain 
has been compelled, on account of the circumstances 
above recited, to postpone, and may be still obliged to 
defer, the carrying into effect of the liberal administrative 
regime that is essential to Cuba's future prosperity, she 
has never given up the intention of applying in due time 
the reforms approved by the Cortes, nor has she failed 
to appreciate the necessity of broadening their scope in 
such a manner as to satisfy both the Peninsulars and the 
Cubans who are shedding their blood on our side in the 
present struggle, as well as all the inabitants of the Island 
of Cuba who have the common welfare at heart. And the 
sincerity with which the new regime will be carried out 
by the home Government cannot, reasonably, even be 
questioned. To be convinced of this, we have but to 
remember the speech pronounced by Your Majesty on 
the occasion of the opening session of the present Cortes; 
for no one will doubt the loyalty of Your Majesty's 
Councilors, whosoever they may be, and, being loyal, it 

— 4 — 



would be folly to assume that, whatever their differences 
of opinion on other matters, they would not all agree in 
upholding every Royal promise. No; such promises can- 
not ever be allowed to remain meaningless phrases, nor 
therefore shall those most solemn ones remain such, 
whereby Your Majesty offered to confer upon both the 
Antilles, as soon as the state of war would warrant it, 
' ' an administrative and economic personality of a purely 
local character, but which would assure the unimpeded 
intervention of all the people of the respective islands in 
their own affairs, while leaving the rights of sovereignty 
intact, and unimpaired the conditions necessary for their 
maintenance." 

From that moment it was not to be questioned that any 
Spanish Government would shape its course to that end. 
In regard to the Ministry which is to-day favored with 
Your Majesty's confidence, it may be said that not only 
did its several members individually co-operate as effi- 
ciently as anyone else toward the approval of the afore- 
mentioned Reform Laws, but during the debate on the 
answer to the last speech from the Crown the present 
Cabinet, through its President (the Prime Minister), made 
certain statements which met with the approval of the 
most liberal of its political opponents, and which the 
Ministry could not, without jeopardy to its honor, fail to 
uphold. 

One of the statements, Your Majesty, was to the effect 
that the Government would not wait until the last insur- 
gent had disappeared from Cuba, but that it would deem 
the moment when the final victory should be assured and 
the national honor satisfied as the proper time to meet the 
real necessity felt in Cuba of testing what the English 
term " self-government," i. e-., a liberal decentralization of 
such a nature as to allow the people of the Island to man- 
age their own interests, and to assume, at the same time, 
the responsibility of their own acts, relieving the metrop- 



olis therefrom. Another of the statements made by the 
Prime Minister on the same occasion was that, aside from 
the serious motives hereinbefore mentioned, he was actu- 
ated to move, as he proposed moving, in regard to the 
policy for the West Indies, by a due consideration for the 
erroneous opinion prevailing in America and in Europe 
to the effect that we, the Peninsulars, obstinately denied 
to our brothers in Cuba and Porto Rico that which other 
nations granted their trans-oceanic provinces, an opinion 
which entailed upon us considerable injury. Such a notion 
was and is really most unjust, as is made evident by 
our colonial traditions and by our own conduct for 
many years past with regard to the political govern- 
ment of the West Indies. Notwithstanding this, it was 
not fitting that the Government should scorn this 
erroneous opinion, but, on the contrary, it deemed it a 
duty to dispel the causes thereof by practical measures. It 
never has, in truth, been advantageous for any one coun- 
try to deviate in its political methods from the general 
trend of those of other nations, and the history of Spain 
amply bears out this assertion ; and much less can it be 
advantageous at the present day, when the solidarity of 
all civilized peoples is such that a mere variance from the 
forms peculiar to the general system carried out by the 
predominant nations is usually fruitful of trouble. It 
is manifest that national dignity will always and in all 
countries spurn any measure that is not the expression of 
its own inmost conscience, spontaneously conceived, and 
much more will it spurn foreign imposition of any sort. 
But this does not imply that any power should systematic- 
ally disregard public opinion, which, when legitimately 
expressed and generally held, is entitled to the same re- 
spect from the great human associations as from the 
individuals constituting them. In a word, Your Majesty, 
everything urges your Government to the fulfillment of 
the promises made by Your Majesty before the Cortes, 

— 6 — 



and which by the Royal sanction, and with the consent 
of his colleagues, were repeated and extended in scope, 
also before the Cortes, by the Minister who has now the 
honor of addressing Your Majesty. 

There is nothing, either, in what he submits for the 
Royal approval that is not in accord with his own politi- 
cal record. Before anyone else he devoted himself with 
energy and efficiency to the work of suppressing the slave 
trade ; over thirty years ago he convened an important and 
illustrious assembly of delegates from the West Indies, 
intrusted with the task of thoroughly reforming in their 
respective provinces the then existing regime with regard 
to the administration of local affairs and to the labor ques- 
tion. After the capitulation of Zanjbn he extended to 
Cuba, with such slight modifications as were at the begin- 
ning necessary, the exercise of the same political rights as 
were enjoyed in the Peninsula; and, lastly, as before men- 
tioned, he contributed, together with all his political fol- 
lowers, without exception, toward the approval by the 
Cortes of the Reform Law of March, 1895. Such is the 
record to which the undersigned ventures to call the gra- 
cious attention of Your Majesty, not assuredly in a boastful 
spirit, but in order to strengthen the certitude which the 
natives of the West Indies should be possessed of that 
whatever Spain offers she stands ready to fulfill with 
inviolable good faith. For, if the present Prime Minister 
speaks now, more particularly in his own name, he hastens 
to acknowledge and proclaim that all other Councilors in- 
vested with Your Majesty's confidence will in the future 
act in like manner, because Spanish statesmen can differ 
in regaixl to this question only in their ability or in the 
degree of success they may attain, but never in their 
good faith or in their loyalty in redeeming the pledges 
made in Your Majesty's name and on behalf of the nation. 

With the issuance of this Decree Spain will have com- 
pleted all that it is incumbent upon her to do in order to 

— 7 — 



hasten the end of Cuba's misfortunes. The rest of the 
task, i. e., the material and practical application of the 
reforms, will not depend for its performance exclusively 
upon the mother country in the future. It will also be 
necessary that the insurgents, convinced as they must be 
of the futility of their struggle, and moved to compassion 
by the desolation and ruin of their native land, lay down 
their arms soon and allow free play to the inexhaustible 
generosity of the mother country, ever ready to take them 
back into her fold. Although such hopes may be cherished 
as to many of them, perhaps it would be presumptuous to 
entertain them as to all. For reasons already set forth 
by Your Majesty's Government, it may be deemed prob- 
able that there will not be wanting men who, blind to 
their own as well as to their country's best interests, will 
endeavor to prolong, for however brief a period, the de- 
plorable evils which now afflict the Island, imagining, per- 
chance, that Spain will tire of her sacrifices and raise the 
flag of peace upon any terms, leaving that beautiful land, 
together with the lives and property of its loyal inhabitants 
enlisted in our cause, at the mercy of the irreconcilable 
advocates of separation from the mother country. As to 
the present Government, it may here be said that no one 
will ever obtain its co-operation in such a course. 

But it is time, Your Majesty, to acknowledge that meas- 
ures of such scope as those herein proposed are not of the 
kind that in free countries usually come within the 
attributes of the Executive. Only the manifestly extraor- 
dinary nature of the present circumstances could have 
persuaded Your Majesty's Government to adopt them in 
the form of a Decree, upon which the Council of State is 
to be heard, and which is to be duly laid before the 
Cortes, in order that it may receive from them the utmost 
legality that it may require. For less obvious reasons 
other governments have considered themselves compelled 
to act in like manner, asking afterward for what, bor- 



rowing the term from the English, is now called in Spain 
a " Bill of Indemnity." To have made such a matter the 
subject of a prolonged and critical discussion while the 
war is waging would have invited troubles so self-evident 
that it is needless to particularize them here. Our Con- 
stitution itself recognizes in the Crown the right, in the 
event of a foreign war, both of declaring it and of making 
and ratifying peace, submitting afterward to the Cortes 
a documentary report thereon. And although the insur- 
rection in Cuba is not in truth a foreign war, it may well 
be compared with those of that nature that we have 
sustained in the past, on account of the vast sacrifices in 
men and money that it entails upon the nation There 
are not lacking, therefore, plausible reasons for proceed- 
ing in the same manner that the Constitution provides in 
the case of a war with an independent state. But the 
Government is not seeking at all to shirk its responsibility 
in endeavoring by means of this Decree to facilitate the 
ultimate accomplishment of peace. As the Cabinet is 
ready to face its responsibility before the Cortes, the 
respect in which the latter are held by the former simply 
induces it to present here excuses the validity of which 
it is incumbent exclusively on them to decide. In the 
meantime, as the thirteenth paragraph, Section 45, of the 
organic law of the Council of State requires that this 
body be consulted in regard to ' ' any innovation in the 
laws, ordinances, rules and regulations applicable to our 
trans-oceanic provinces," the present Ministry shall not 
fail to meet this essential requirement in a matter of such 
moment as the one under consideration, even if it be only 
in order to strengthen its own judgment with that of the 
supreme consultative body of the Realm. 

Not all the problems involved in the government of the 
West Indies will be solved, however, by means of the 
Decree herewith submitted. Some of them give us time to 
seek their solution from the Cortes — a course, moreover, 

— 9 — 



which their exceptional character demands. One of these 
is in reference to the determination, in a precise and abso- 
lute manner, of the expenses necessary to the maintenance 
of sovereignty, and of all other expenses, aside from those 
purely local, that shall correspond to Cuba, as fixed 
charges upon her Budget. This is a matter that must be 
submitted to the Cortes, as it affects the Peninsular prov- 
inces equally with those of the Island. 

Another of the problems referred to above is the one 
relative to the judicial organization; for, though all judi- 
cial functionaries are already included in one civil list with 
those of the Peninsula, and though some rules are laid 
down in the present Decree for their appointment to fill 
vacancies that correspond to the " turn of selection "* for 
the West Indies, there remain some essential points to be 
covered by legislative enactment, among others the pro- 
portionate share that the West Indies and the other Spanish 
provinces shall have in the number of aspirants to the 
national magistracy. 

No reference is made, either, in the present Decree to 
electoral reform, because certain reasons of a high order 
bar the introduction by the Government of changes in the 
existing system for the election of Representatives and 
Senators, without the concurrence of the Cortes; and 

* In almost every branch of the Spanish Government service the 
officers and functionaries thereof are registered in the respective 
civil list according to rank and to seniority in each rank ; and in fill- 
ing vacancies in any but the lowest rank, the appointing officer is not 
only obliged to promote one of those registered in the rank immedi- 
ately inferior to the one in which the vacancy is to be filled, but he 
is obliged to follow two alternate " turns," viz., to the first vacancy 
occurring in any given class he is to promote the employee, officer or 
functionary heading, as senior, the list of the class next inferior in 
rank, this being termed the " turn of seniority." To the next vacancy 
occurring in the same class he may promote, at his discretion, any 
employee, officer or functionary included in the list of the class next 
inferior in rank, provided that the person so selected is otherwise 
legally entitled to promotion, there being certain requirements such 
as a certain number of years of service in each rank. This is called 
the "turn of discretionary selection." — {Translator 's Note.) 

— 10 — 



because to the above system, which is the primary one, 
all others relative to Provincial Assemblies and Munici- 
palities have always been subordinate. 

The Government is not yet in a position to determine 
how brief or how long the period may be within which the 
present reforms can be put into effect in Cuba and, conse- 
quently, in Porto Rico, although from all the data at hand 
at the moment of draughting the following Decree the out- 
look seems very satisfactory and there are many indications 
that peace is not far off ; but, at any rate, the Government 
feels that it must be prepared to put such reforms into 
practical operation without delay as soon as may be pos- 
sible. To this end, therefore, the Council of State 
shall be immediately consulted, although the Decree of 
Reforms shall not be enforced until all necessary condi- 
tions are complied with. This done, and the intentions of 
Spain being from this moment known, it is to be hoped 
that a conciliatory spirit will prevail in the West Indies, 
thus hastening by easy means that which the country 
has always longed for ; that which the civilized world de- 
sires, and that which Your Majesty and the Government, 
as much or more than anyone else, have striven for in 
the past and will continue in the future to strive for — a 

fruitful and lasting peace. 

Your Majesty: 

I have the honor to be Your Majesty's 

Most humble servant, 

ANTONIO CANOVAS DEL CASTILLO. 



11 



ROYAL DECREE. 



Upon the proposition of my Prime Minister, and with 
the concurrence of the Council of Ministers, in the name of 
my august son, King Alfonso XIII., and as Queen 
Regent of the Kingdom, I hereby decree, as follows : 

Sole Section — The plan for extending the scope of 
the reforms for the Island of Cuba which were embodied 
in the law of March 15, 1805, and which plan shall in due 
time apply as well to the reforms already put in force in 
Porto Rico, shall be submitted to the full Council of State, 
for its prompt consideration and report, in accordance with 
the provisions of Section 45, paragraph 13, of the organic 
law of that Supreme National Advisory Body. 

Given in the Palace on the fourth day of February, in 
the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. 

MARIA CRISTINA. 
The Prime Minister, 

Antonio Canovas del Castillo. 



PLAN FOR THE EXTENSION IN 5C0PE 

OF THE 

REFORM LAW OF flARCH 15, 1895. 



Article 1. 

The Law of March 15, 1895, relative to Reforms in the 
system of Government and Civil Administration in the 
Island of Cuba, shall be extended and given a wider scope 
in accordance with the following bases, which so far as 
may be necessary shall be amplified and developed by 
means of Rules and Regulations. 

Basis I. — The Boards of Aldermen and the Provincial Powers of the 

Provincial 

Assemblies of the Island of Cuba shall enjoy such liberty Assemblies 

r , ,..,.,,. n , and Boards of 

of action as may be compatible with observance of law Aldermen. 
and with the rights of private individuals. 

They shall be free to appoint and remove all their 
employees. 

The Presidents of the Provincial Assemblies shall be 
elected by said assemblies from among their own mem- 
bers. In each Provincial Assembly there shall be a Pro- 
vincial Executive Committee, consisting of Assemblymen 
elected semi-annually by the Assembly. The Provincial 
Executive Committee shall elect its chairman. 

Mayors and Deputy Mayors shall be elected to the Mayors: How 

Elected. 

respective offices by the Board of Aldermen from among 
their own members. The Mayors shall without limitation 
exercise the executive functions of the municipal govern- 
ment, as the executive officers of the Boards of Aldermen. 
A Provincial Assembly may stay the execution of reso- 
lutions adopted by any of the Boards of Aldermen under 
its jurisdiction; it may also censure, warn, fine or suspend 
the members thereof, whenever said members shall exceed 

— 15 — 



The Raising of 
Revenue. 



Public 
education. 



Financial 

Statements by 

the Mayors. 



the limits of their municipal jurisdiction; in such case the 
Assembly shall report such action to the Civil Governor 
for his approval and for its execution. 

Should the Civil Governor not approve the action of the 
Provincial Assembly, either in whole or in part, said 
Assembly may appeal to the full Supreme Court of the 
corresponding territory, whose decision shall be final. 

For the purpose of raising the revenue necessary to meet 
their expenses and obligations, the Municipal Coun- 
cils and Provincial Assemblies shall be vested with all the 
authority compatible with the system of taxation govern- 
ing the general and local Budgets of the Island; it being 
understood that the revenues for the provincial Budgets 
shall be independent of those for the municipal Budgets. 

The establishment of public educational institutions in 
the provinces shall devolve exclusively upon their respective 
Provincial Assemblies, and of those in the cities and towns 
upon the Boards of Aldermen. 

The Governor General and the Civil Governors shall have 
the right of intervention in these matters only to the extent 
necessary to insure compliance with the general laws, 
and to satisfy themselves that the new charges imposed 
by the local Budgets are not in excess of the respective 
provincial and municipal resources. 

The annual financial statements rendered by the Mayors, 
which shall include all receipts and expenditures, both 
ordinary and special, shall be published in their respective 
localities, and whatever may be their total amount 
shall be audited, and objected to or approved, as the case 
may be, by the Municipal Council, after hearing any pro- 
tests offered against them. From the action of the 
Municipal Council appeal may be taken to the Provincial 
Executive Committee, and in cases where the latter shall 
declare the liability of any official or officials, an appeal 
may be taken to the full Supreme Court of each respec- 
tive district, which shall decide, without further recourse, 

— 16 — 



in conformity with the administrative and penal laws that 
may be applicable thereto. 

Basis II. — The Council of Administration shall consist 
of thirty-five Councilors. Of these, twenty-one shall be 
elected as follows by the same voters who are entitled to 
suffrage at the elections for Assemblymen and Aldermen, 
and according to the provisions of Article III. of the 
Reform law of March 15, 1895, as follows: Five by the 
Province of Havana, four each by the Provinces of Santa 
Clara and Santiago de Cuba, three each by the Provinces 
of Pinar del Rio and Matanzas, and two by the Province 
of Puerto Principe. Nine other Councilors shall be the 
following: The Rector of the University of Havana, the 
President of the Havana Chamber of Commerce, the 
President of the Economical Society of the Friends of the 
Country, the President of the Sugar Planters' Association, 
the President of the Tobacco Manufacturers' Union, a 
member of the Chapters of the Cathedrals of Havana 
and Santiago de Cuba, which Chapters, assembled as 
electoral colleges, shall elect such member every four 
years; a representative of all the trades associations of 
Havana, to be chosen every fourth year by the presi- 
dents of such trade associations, and two Councilors 
representing the principal taxpayers of the Province of 
Havana, to be elected every four years, one by the 
hundred citizens paying the highest taxes on real estate 
and the other by the hundred paying the highest taxes 
on industries, commerce, arts and professions. The re- 
maining five Councilors shall be the Senators or Repre- 
sentatives to the Cortes who shall have been elected the 
greatest number of times at general elections, seniority of 
age determining where other conditions are equal. 

The Governor General shall be the Honorary President 
of the Council, and he shall preside, without vote, at any 
session he may attend. The regular President shall be 

— 17 — 



Council of 
Administra 
tion : How 
Constituted. 



President of 
the Council. 



The Office of 
Councilor. 



Appointment 

and Removal 

of the 

Council's 

Employees. 



appointed by the Governor General from among its 
members. 

The office of Councilor shall be without compensation, 
shall carry personal liability, and, once accepted, cannot be 
resigned except for cause. The office shall also be incom- 
patible with that of Representative to the Cortes or Sen- 
ator, and anyone eligible to the two shall elect between 
them within two months. 

Candidates having the qualifications necessary for elec- 
tion as Representatives to the Cortes, and having resided 
two years on the Island, may be elected Councilors. 

In no case shall those debarred from election as Repre- 
sentatives to the Cortes by Section 19 of the Provincial 
Law, now in force, be elected Councilors. 

The Council shall have a Secretary's office, with an ade- 
quate force for the transaction of the affairs hereby 
assigned to it. 

The power of appointment and removal of all employees 
of the Secretary's office shall be solely and exclusively 
vested in the Council. 

The Council shall elect every six months a Committee 
on Reports, whose duty shall be to report upon all matters 
coming within the jurisdiction of the Council. 

Said committee shall consist of five Councilors, each of 
whom shall be entitled to such compensation as the Council 
may determine, but which shall not exceed the sum of 
$2,000 for each term of six months. 



Expenses 

Inherent to 

Sovereignty. 



Levying of 
Taxes. 



Basis III. — The Cortes shall determine the expenditures, 
which shall necessarily be chargeable as expenses inherent 
to sovereignty, and every three years shall fix the total 
amount of revenue required therefor; this without preju- 
dice to the right of the Cortes to alter this provision. 

The Council of Administration shall each year levy such 
taxes and imposts as may be necessary to provide the total 
amount of revenue required and to meet the expenditures 

— 18 — 



approved by the Cortes in the national Budget for the 
Island ; this without prejudice to the constitutional right of 
the Cortes to introduce such changes as it may deem 
proper in the premises. 

The Council of Administration may renounce the powers 
conferred upon it by the last preceding paragraph; in 
which case it shall be understood that it also renounces, 
for the term covered by the Budget, the powers conferred 
by vSections 1 and 2 of the first paragraph, Basis IV. 

Should the Council of Administration surrender said 
powers, or should it fail on the first day of June of any 
year to levy the taxes and imposts for the revenue required 
to meet the expenditures included in the national Budget 
for the Island, the Governor General shall supply such 
defaidt, so far as it may exist, and either in part or in 
whole, through the Chief of the Treasury. 

The Council of Administration shall also prepare and The Council to 
approve every year the local Budget for the Island of Cuba, Budgets. 
in order to make provision for such branches of the public 
service as are intrusted to it. It shall also include in said 
Budget the necessary appropriations for the personnel and 
the supplies for the office of the Secretary of the General 
Government of Cuba, for the Bureau of Local Administra- 
tion, for the Department of Finance, for the office of the 
Auditor, and for the offices of the six Provincial Governors 
of the Island, which expenses are hereby declared to be 
obligatory charges upon said Budget. 

In regard to the obligatory charges just mentioned, the 
Governor General shall, should the case arise, become vested 
with the powers mentioned in the fourth paragraph of 
the present basis, relative to the national Budget for the 
Island. 

Should any changes or modifications adopted by the 
Council of Administration affecting services chargeable, as 
fixed obligations, against the local Budget for the Island, 
not be approved by the Governor General, they shall be 

— 19 — 



Revenues for 
Local Budgets. 



Educational 
Institutions. 



submitted to the Minister for the Colonies for final action, 
to be taken by resolution of the Cabinet, after first 
obtaining a report thereon from the Council of State. 
In default of any action by the Minister within two 
months, the action of the Council of Administration shall 
stand. 

The Council of Administration shall approve the local 
Budget for the Island before the first day of June in each 
year. 

The revenues of the local Budget, besides those already 
provided, shall consist of such taxes and imposts as the 
Council of Administration may determine and as shall not 
conflict with the sources of revenue applied to the national 
Budget for the Island 

The establishment of new educational institutions pre- 
paratory for the various Government services*, the Army 
and Navy excepted, shall devolve upon the Council of 
Administration, whenever such institutions shall be of a 
general character and for the benefit of the entire Island. 

The Council of Administration may file with the Gov- 
ernor General claims or protests, should there be occa- 
sion for them, against any resolution or action taken by 
the Chief of the Bureau of Local Administration. 



Powers of the Basis IV. — The Council of Administration shall have 

Council in 

the natter of the following powers m the matter of customs tariff : 

Tariff" 8 1- To ma ke, upon the recommendation of the Chief of 

the Treasury of the Island, the rules and regulations for 
the administration of the customs revenue. 

2. To take such action as it may deem advisable, with 
the advice of the Chief of the Treasury, or upon his 
recommendation, in regard to export duties. 

3. To fix or change at its discretion, with the advice of 
the Chief of the Treasury, or upon his recommendation, 



* See notes on pages 10 and 25. 

— 20 



the fiscal duties to be levied upon imports through the 
Custom Houses of the Island of Cuba. 

4. To report upon and to recommend any changes 
which experience may suggest in the general or supple- 
mentary dispositions of the tariff, or in the schedules, 
notes or repertory thereof; said report to necessarily pre- 
cede any action taken thereon. 

These powers are granted subject to the following limi- 
tations : 

1. A reasonable and necessary protection shall be main- 
tained in favor of national products and manufactures, 
provided they be directly of national origin, as regards 
their importation into the Island of Cuba; such protec- 
tion to be accorded by means of differential duties to be 
levied at the minimum rates, hereafter to be determined, 
equally upon all products of foreign origin. 

2. The fiscal duties to be fixed by the Council of Ad- 
ministration shall not be differential, but must apply 
equally upon all imports, those of national origin included. 

3. Such export duties as may be established shall not 
be differential, but shall be applied equally to the same class 
of products, whatever their destination. Exception may be 
made, however, in favor of products exported directly for 
national consumption, in which exclusive case the Council 
of Administration may grant exemption from or a differ- 
ential reduction in the duties by it established. 

•4. The prohibition to export any product, should this 
at any time be ordered, shall not apply to products 
exported directly for national consumption. 

5. The powers granted by virtue of Sections 1 and 2 of 
the first paragraph of this present basis shall be exercised 
by the Council of Administration or, in default thereof, by 
the Governor General, in accordance with the obligations 
imposed by the second paragraph, Basis III. The fiscal 
import duties, and also the export duties, should such be 
established, shall remain unchanged during the term cov- 

— 21 — 



Protection to 
National 
Products. 



Export Duties. 



Form 

of Customs 

Tariff. 



Fiscal Duties. 



rtaximictn at 
Protection. 



Differential 
Duties. 



ered by the Budget which is based upon the revenues that 
those duties are estimated to provide. 

The import tariff shall be embodied in the following- 
form : The duties shall be set forth in two columns, viz., 
the first shall contain the fiscal duties to be levied and col- 
lected on all importations of whatever origin, national 
included ; the second shall contain the differential duties 
to be levied equally upon all products of foreign origin; 
these last mentioned duties to constitute the necessary 
protection which is secured to national products and 
manufactures. 

The fiscal duties comprised in the first or general column 
may be freely altered by the addition of such extra rates 
of duties and by such reductions or exemptions as the 
Council of Administration may determine, in the exer- 
cise of the powers hereinbefore granted, subject to the 
limitations also hereinbefore expressed. 

The Cortes shall determine the maximum of protection 
to be maintained in favor of national products and manu- 
factures. The maximum thus established shall not be 
altered without the concurrence of the Cortes, and this 
concurrence shall also be necessary for any changes in the 
column of differential duties. 

The initial duties to be levied upon all the articles com- 
prised in the various schedules of the tariff and which are 
to constitute, for the first time, the differential column 
before mentioned, shall be fixed by the Government. 

These differential duties, which need not in general be 
higher than 20 per cent, ad valorem, shall not exceed 35 
per cent, ad valorem, even on such articles as may require 
this exceptional and maximum rate. A special act of the 
Cortes shall be required in order to exceed the above limit 
of 35 per cent, on any article. Such act may raise the 
limit to 40 pe: cent, ad valorem. 

The Government shall order a revision of the official 
schedules of valuations of merchandise after a full hearing 



of all interests. Whenever, as a result of the revision of said 
schedule of valuations, and by reason of the limitations 
established by the preceding rule, it shall appear that a 
reduction should be made in the differential duty on any 
specified article of the Tariff, the finding of said fact shall 
of itself operate to effect such reduction. The official 
schedules of valuation of merchandise, once revised, shall 
remain unchanged for the term of ten years, unless other- 
wise provided by the Cortes. 

It being impossible to carry immediately into effect all 
the provisions that this basis establishes for the future, 
and it being deemed inadvisable to further delay the 
revision of the Tariff now in operation in Cuba, the Min- 
ister for the Colonies shall, by virtue of legal authority 
now vested in him, and in accordance with the law of June 
28, 1895, publish and put into effect a provisional Tariff, 
the general lines and the schedules of which shall be 
adjusted to the requirements of this present basis; and 
the fiscal duties which may be thus fixed and which may 
appear in their respective column, and also whatever may 
relate to export duties or regulations, shall be provisionally 
put into force. 

Commercial treaties or conventions which shall affect 
the customs tariff of the Island of Cuba must be of a special 
character. The benefits of the clause of the " most favored 
nation," or any equivalent thereof, shall not be granted 
therein. The Council of Administration shall be con- 
sulted as to the advisability of granting any special con- 
cessions which the Government may have in view, in nego- 
tiating any treaty, before the latter shall be completed 
for submission to the Cortes. 



Revision of 

Schedules of 

Valuation. 



Provisional 
Tariff. 



Commercial 
Treaties. 



Basis V. — The Governor General shall have the power Power of 

Appointment 

to appoint and remove all the employees of the office of of Employees. 
the Secretary of the General Government of the Island, 
of the Bureau of Civil and Economic Administration and 



— 23 



of the Provincial Governments, as provided in Basis 
VII. 

Basis VI. — The office of the Secretary of the General 
Government shall be under the direction of a Superior 
Chief of Administration. 
Chiefs of The Chief of the Treasury of the Island of Cuba, the 

Bureaus to 

Nominate Comptroller and the Chief of the Bureau of Local Adminis- 
tration shall propose to the Governor General the appoint- 
ment of all the employees of their respective offices, 
according to the provisions of Basis VII., and they may 
likewise propose their removal. 
Postal The Bureau of Posts and Telegraphs, under the direction 

and Telegraph 

service. of a Chief of Administration, shall have under its charge 
the services relative to postal and telegraphic communi- 
cations, both land and maritime, for which the Council 
of Administration may make provision; and it shall be 
its duty to examine and render annually the accounts of 
said services and to execute all the resolutions of the 
Council concerning the Bureau. 

Employees to Basis VII. — All the employees of the Civil and Economic 

Be Natives . .. . . . 

or Residents of Administration of the Island of Cuba, with the exception 
of the Secretary of the General Government, the Chief of 
the Treasury, the Comptroller, the Chiefs of the Bureaus 
of Local Administration and of Posts and Telegraphs, and 
the Civil Governors of the six Provinces, shall be appointed, 
as vacancies occur, by the Governor General of the Island 
of Cuba, in conformity with existing laws or with such as 
may be hereafter enacted, from among the natives of said 
Island or from among others residing or having resided 
there during two consecutive years. 

The Governor General shall submit to the Council of 
Administration, for its cognizance, evidence of the legal 
qualifications of all appointees. 

In the appointment of all functionaries belonging to the 
— 24 — 



civil service professions* and to the postal and telegraph Civil service 

iii- • • i 1 i 1 Provisions. 

service, the legal dispositions and rules and regulations 
relating thereto shall be complied with. 

The employees of the office of the Secretary of the 
General Government and of the offices of the Provincial 
Governors shall be appointed and removed by the Gov- 
ernor General at his discretion. The employees of the 
Bureau of Local Administration, of the Treasury and of 
the Administration of Customs (except in case a corps of 
experts be organized) and of the office of the Comptroller, 
shall be appointed by the Governor General upon the 
nomination of the respective chiefs of the above men- 
tioned branches of the service. They may be removed by 
the Governor General upon the proposition of said chiefs, 
or directly by the former whenever he shall deem it 
necessary. 

The Governor General may appoint Supervisors of supervisors of 

Public 

Public Education; two each for the Provinces of Havana, Education. 
Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba, and one each for the 
Provinces of Pinar del Rio, Matanzas and Puerto Principe. 
The Governor General may also appoint, upon the nomi- 
nation of the Provincial Governors, Deputies representing 
the latter authorities in the municipal districts. Said 
Deputies shall have gubernatorial authority in their 
respective localities and shall have control of the police 



Deputies to 

Represent 

Civil 

Governors in 

Towns. 



* Various branches of the Government service in Spain constitute 
what are termed state or civil service professions. Admission thereto 
can only be obtained through a special course of studies for each, and 
after a rigid competitive examination for such vacancies in the lowest 
rank as from time to time are to be filled. Once admitted, members 
of said professions cannot be removed from office, except after trial 
for cause, though they may be assigned to different posts pertaining 
to their respective ranks ; and their advancement is regulated by a 
system which, while securing to all equal justice in promotion by 
seniority, still offers to all an incentive to zeal and efficiency. See 
note on foot of page 10. At a certain age, and after a given number 
of years' service, members of civil service professions may retire with 
a pension, proportionate to their rank on retirement. — Translator s 
Note. 



— 25 



force. In no case shall they interfere with the Mayors or 
Boards of Aldermen in the exercise of their powers. 

The Governor General, whenever he shall deem it advis- 
able, and acting upon the recommendation of the Pro- 
vincial Governors, may in the same manner deputize the 
Mayor of any city or town. 



Administra= 
tion of Justice. 



Hirnicipal 
Judges. 



Basis VIII. — Any vacancies which may hereafter occur in 
any of the offices under the Administration of Justice* and 
the appointment to which may, according to turn, be dis- 
cretionary,** shall be filled by the Minister for the Colo- 
nies, either from natives of the Island of Cuba or from 
those who reside or may have resided there. Applications 
for appointment, accompanied by the records of the 
respective applicants, shall be filed with the Presidents 
of the Supreme Courts of the various districts, and shall 
be forwarded to the Department through the Governor 
General. 

The Municipal Judge of each judicial district shall be 
appointed by the Governor General, who shall select for 
that office one of three persons to be nominated by the 
Aldermen of the respective municipalities and by the 
voters entitled to vote for the electors of Senators, regard 
being had to the provisions of the law relative to the ap- 
pointment of electors. 

In municipalities where two or more Judges are to be 
appointed separate ballots shall becast for each set of 
nominees in the manner above provided. 

The Municipal Judges who may be elected must possess 
the qualifications prescribed by the existing laws in the 
Island of Cuba. 



Council to 

Respect 

Pending Con= 

tracts. 



Basis IX. — The Council of Administration shall respect 
pending contracts throughout the various branches of the 

* This comprises Judges and Prosecuting Attorneys. — T. A'. 
** See note foot of page 25. 



— 26 



Government service and of the Treasury of the Island, 
and upon their expiration may renew them or not at its 
discretion. 

The Council of Administration is hereby empowered to 
apply to the Island of Cuba the Law regulating- the opera- 
tions of the Treasury which is now in force in the Penin- 
sula, and to enter into an agreement for that purpose with 
the Spanish Bank of the Island of Cuba. 

The Council is further empowered to intrust the above 
mentioned Bank with the collection of revenues, or to con- 
tract with it with reference thereto, subject always to the 
approval of the Minister for the Colonies. 



Council 

Empowered to 

Contract for 

Collection of 

Taxes. 



Basis X. — A special Decree, which shall be reported Preservation 
to the Cortes, shall contain such dispositions as may be p U bii C Peace. 
deemed necessary for the preservation of the public peace 
and for the suppression of any separatist movement which 
by any means whatever may be again set on foot. 



Article 2. 



The Government shall embody in a single instrument Previous and 

. . , r Present 

the foregoing provisions and the provisions of the reform Reform neas= 
law of March 15, 1895, so as to harmonize the two; and ^'diusted 6 
shall in due time report the same to the Cortes. 

These united provisions shall be supplemented by rules 
and regulations to be subsequently formulated, which, 
however, shall in no manner change the intent or mean- 
ing thereof, and whose sole purpose shall be to adjust 
the said provisions to other legislation now in force, 
as provided in the before mentioned law of March 15, 
L895. 

Upon the issuing of an order putting into effect in Cuba These Disposi= 

tions to 

the provisions of the law of March 15, 1S95, and the pro- Have the Force 

visions of this Royal Decree, said provisions shall, so far 



Reforms 
Applied to 
Porto Rico. 



When the 

Reforms Shall 

Be Put Into 

Effect. 



as may be possible, have all the force of law, without preju- 
dice to the rules and regulations subsequently to be made. 

Article 3. 

The provisions of the present Decree, as an extension in 
scope of the law of March 15, 1895, shall be applied to the 
Island of Porto Rico wherever compatible with the differ- 
ent conditions prevailing in said Island and with the insti- 
tutions already established there. 

The rules and regulations already issued for Porto Rico 
shall be amended so far as may be necessary to bring them 
into accord with those which shall be issued for the Island 
of Cuba. 

Article 4. 

The date upon which the provisions of the reform law 
of March 15, 1895. shall be put into effect in Cuba, and 
upon which the provisions of this supplementary Decree 
shall be applied to both Cuba and Porto Rico, shall be 
determined by the Government as soon as the condition 
of the war in Cuba shall permit. 

The Prime Minister, 

Antonio Canovas del Castillo. 

Madrid, February 4, 1897. 



28 



. COMMENTARY. 



I 



N perusing - the official text of the ' ' Expository Pre- Points to Be 
amble " and " Royal Decree " embodvinsr the reform "d" 6 !" ♦H d 

-' jo m Reading the 

measures recently adopted by Spain for the govern- Foregoing 



ment of the Island of Cuba, which is herein rendered in as 
faithful an English version as the difference in construction 
of the two languages would permit of, the reader will un- 
doubtedly have a better comprehension of those measures 
and a more adequate appreciation of their scope if he 
will bear in mind : First — The political complexion of the 
party whose leader, as Premier of the Kingdom, has pre- 
pared and obtained the sanction of the Crown for such a 
radical measure of Spanish colonial policy. Second — The 
purpose which has actuated Her Majesty's Government in 
adopting such a course, and its intentions as to the devel- 
opment and application of the plan of reforms. Third — 
The view taken in regard to this plan by the leaders of 
other Spanish political parties. Fourth — The spirit in 
which its announcement has been received in Cuba by 
prominent natives and influential Peninsular-born resi- 
dents. Fifth — The trend of public opinion in foreign 
countries on the reforms. 

As an aid, therefore, to those not thoroughly acquainted 
with the subject, the writer here presents, supplemented 
by a few remarks of his own, various statements and ex- 
pressions of opinion covering the points above enumerated, 
which he has culled, extracted and rendered into English, 
where necessary, from ?uch matter as he has at hand. 



As to the first point, it is well to remember that while 
the Conservative party, under the leadership of the present 

— 29 — 



Conservative eral party. 

Party Fore= 

stalls the 

Liberals in 

Granting Re= 

forms. 



Prime Minister, Seflor Canovas del Castillo, has always, 
true to its name and creed, opposed radical legislation and 
the adoption of political measures for which it did not 
consider the time ripe nor the people of Spain prepared, 
it has almost invariably, when called into power, respected 
or " conserved" all successive political rights enacted into 
the Laws of the Realm through the initiative of the Lib- 
And in many instances, as in the present 
Cuban question, the Conservatives have forestalled the 
more advanced party in the granting of reforms, going 
even beyond the limits predetermined by the latter' s 
declarations of principles as to certain issues. 

Thus, not only did the Conservative party, then in the 
opposition, heartily support and solidly vote in favor of 
the Abarzuza Cuban Reform bill, draughted and submitted 
to the Cortes by the Liberal Cabinet of Premier Sagasta 
in 1895, but now, while under the tremendous responsibili- 
ties inherent to power in such critical circumstances as 
Spain is going through, Sehor Canovas boldly steps far 
beyond the boundaries pointed out by the promises of 
other Spanish statesmen or even by the demands of the 
several Cuban legal political parties, the Autonomist 
party alone excepted. 



Intentions 

of the 

Government. 



In regard to the second point, Senor Canovas del Cas- 
tillo made the following statement on the day in which 
the Royal Decree was published in the Gaceta de Madrid 
(official organ of record). These utterances of the emi- 
nent Spanish statesman confirm and throw additional 
light on that noble and remarkable official writing : the 
" Expository Preamble " to the Royal Decree. 

To a press representative Senor Canovas said : 



I have devoted much study and thought to the preparation 
of the plan of reforms, and being inspired by the utmost 



— 30 — 



sincerity I have endeavored to imbue the measure with the 
broadest spirit. 

It has been my aim to make of the reforms a national 
undertaking; I have worked on them, therefore, on behalf of 
my country and for my country. 

My idea, my determination, is to put them into effect 
according to the most liberal interpretation and with abso- 
lute sincerity. 

With entire good faith I am resolutely going toward the 
establishment of autonomy in Cuba. On this line no radical- 
ism can check me. What I have been most careful of is not 
to leave any loophole for independence. And in this I have 
fulfilled my duty. 



Sr. Canovas 

del Castillo's 

Statement. 



It is not necessary to await the complete pacification of the Application of 



Island of Cuba in order to put the reforms into practical 
operation. 

As soon the rebellion is reduced to the Oriental Depart- 
ment all the pacified provinces shall immediately enter upon 
the enjoyment of the advantages to be derived from the new 
measures. Without further delay the Boards of Aldermen 
and the Provincial Assemblies shall be elected in those prov- 
inces, and they shall have entire liberty of action without 
any Government intervention. And thus the entire plan of 
reforms shall be rapidly developed, with a view of having it 
in practical operation in as short a period as possible. 

In connection with this same point, i. c. , the intentions 
of the Spanish Government as to the development and 
application of its plan of reforms, it will be proper to 
transcribe here the statements made by the Spanish 
Minister in Washington, Senor Dupuy de Lome, to a 
representative of The United Associated Presses on the 
7th of last February. 

A close study of the course of the Cuban question could 
not but convey to the least observing mind the conviction 
that this most efficient and able diplomat enjoys to more 
than an ordinary degree the confidence of his Government. 
It is but fair to assume, therefore, especially if it be re- 
membered how discreet and cautious have been all Senor 
Dupuy de Lome's utterances, that in the following state- 

— 31 — 



the Plan of 
Reforms. 



Sr. Dupuy de 

Lome's 
Statement. 



ment the Spanish representative reflects the purpose of 
his Government; or, in other words, that he gives, unoffi- 
cially, expression to certain knowledge, officially acquired, 
bearing on the question under review. 

His statement, in substance, as published is as follows: 

Electoral The electoral reforms were not referred to at length in 

Reforms. ^he decree of the Ministry, for the reasons stated in the pre- 
amble of Senor Canovas, that they will require the action of 
the Cortes. I am informed, however, that the Government 
will not oppose the extension of the basis of the suffrage, but 
they desire to do it in such a way as to prevent undue 
influence being acquired by the illiterate portion of the 
population. 

The present law requires the payment of taxes amounting 
in the aggregate to $5, except where the privilege of voting 
is extended to the graduates of the universities and other 
members of the learned professions. Any educational quali- 
fication which may be suggested by the Cubans, and which 
seems reasonable and proper, will undoubtedly be adopted 
by the Cortes. The subject must be regulated by that body. 

It is the purpose of the Government to show the greatest 
generosity toward the insurgents who lay down their arms. 
The reforms cannot well be put into full effect until the sover- 
eignty of Spain is acknowledged. The Government will not 
relax its military activity in any degree if the insurgents 
show a disposition to continue the contest and fail to appre- 
ciate the great concessions made by the home Government. 
Spain's Gen= Spam has gone to the utmost limit in her generosity to 
erous Spirit in ^e Q UDan p e0 ple, and has established a system by which the 
Cuba. Island will hereafter be governed in Cuba by residents of the 

Island, instead of being governed from Madrid. The right 
to hold office is given to Spaniards who have lived two years 
in Cuba, because they have become in a large degree 
identified with the interests of the Island. 

In this respect the proposed policy is not unlike that which 
has been pursued by the United States, where members of 
both political parties have delighted to honor citizens born out- 
side of the country. Conspicuous examples are found in the 
cases of Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, who is to be a member of the Cab- 
inet of your next President, and who was, I believe, born in 
Scotland, and of Carl Schurz, who was born in Germany, but 
was Secretary of the Interior under the administration of 
President Hayes. 

The tariff features of the new Decree are very comprehen- 

— 32 — 



sive in their scope, and mean a great deal for the United 
States as well as for Cuba. The duties levied will be equal 
against all countries except Spain ; and American manufac- 
turers and exporters, in view of their familiarity with 
Cuban trade and their nearness to the Island, are likely to 
appreciate the importance of these concessions. 

The situation will be much more favorable to American 
trade than under the reciprocity treaty of 1890. There were 
in that treaty two schedules for American goods, one of 25 
per cent, and another of 50 per cent., but Spain had the right 
to provide for the entry of her products free of duty, thus 
giving her a marked advantage over the United States. The 
Spanish West Indies are the best consumers of United States 
products that you have on this continent. It will be neces- 
sary for the home Government to consult the Cubans before 
a reciprocity treaty is concluded. The new reforms dis- 
tinctly provide that such treaties may be suggested by the 
new Council of Administration. 

The Council of Administration shall not only contain 
twenty-one members elected by the qualified voters of Cuba, 
but will contain Cubans among the other members, if they 
possess the qualifications to attain the position which entitles 
them to seats. The members of the Council of Administra- 
tion, who shall sit by virtue of their office as Presidents of 
the Chamber of Commerce, the Planters' Association and 
other bodies, may just as well be Cubans as persons born in 
Spain, if they show the qualities which naturally advance 
them to those places. The places are entirely open to native 
Cubans as well as Spaniards. 

The Liberal party, upon returning to power, could or 
would never attempt to take a step backward on such a 
vital national issue, either by reactionary legislation or by 
a narrow interpretation of the measures enacted by the 
Conservatives. 

That is not only self-evident, but it is assured beyond 

peradventure by the fact that the leaders of the Liberal 

party have approved of the new plan of reforms. In 

effect, Sefior Maura, who in colonial matters can speak 

with best authority on behalf of said party, he being the 

author of the Reform bill of 1893, has said: 

The Royal Decree issued by the Prime Minister unfolds 
with vigorous frankness a system which differs much more 



The Tariff 
Features. 



More Favora= 

ble to the 

United States 

than the 

Reciprocity 

Treaty. 



The Liberal 

Party Indorses 

the Plan of 

Reforms. 



— 33 — 



radically from that now established in the West Indies than 
did the Law of 1895* or the Bill of 1893.** It adopts principles 
and lays down bases which should satisfy all aspirations, 
that are not insatiable, of the liberal political parties in 
Cuba. I spurn as absurd any insinuation to the effect that 
the scope of the reforms may be impaired by the rules and 
regulations and other means for their application, because 
no statesman should be insulted by imputing such bad faith 
to him, nor would any fail to perceive the dangers of so 
acting. 

The Re P ubii= The present reform measures also meet the favor of the 

cans Also. 

Spanish Republicans, as is evidenced by the following 
words from their leader, the great orator, Don Emilio 
Castelar : 

I, as a writer, can only applaud the tendencies of the 
reform decrees. I approve them with all my heart, and sup- 
port them with all my power. I oppose any design of 
reducing them, whatever be its origin. 

With the projects of Maura, Abarzuza and Canovas, all 
defended by me, we have dealt justice to Cuba, establishing 
her self-government and developing her commercial rela- 
tions. 

From them good, nothing but good, can come. Therefore 
I am satisfied, and thus you have my opinion. 

As to how the reforms will be accepted by the political 

parties in Cuba, by influential organizations of the Island 

and by Cuban public opinion in general, the following 

excerpts from statements thereon may give a fair idea. 

The Cuban Those from the leaders of the Autonomist party, who are 

Autonomists 

Approve of tie also Members of the Cortes, are of the utmost importance, 
6 0r u"res. CaS= because the principles and ideals of this party undoubtedly 
represent the aspirations of the majority of native resi- 
dents of the Island, and because it is more than likely 



* In force in Porto Rico, but not yet applied to Cuba on account of 
the insurrection. 

** Of which Senor Maura, then Minister for the Colonies, was 
author, but which did not become law on account of his leaving the 
portfolio. 

— 34 — 



that to its banners shall rally the better class of those who 
have participated in the present insurrection, as soon as 
the latter is finally put down. 

Here are the extracts above referred to : 

From Senor Rafael M on toro, a native of Cuba, one of statement of 
the leaders of the Autonomist party and Member of the 
Cortes for the Island: 



It is difficult to make quite clear to the Anglo-Saxon 
mind what will be the political relations in Cuba to the 
mother country in the new era which is dawning. It is im- 
possible to reason by analogy and contrast with the British 
colonies, because, to cite merely one cause of essential differ- 
ence, Spain has a written Constitution which is the palladium 
and supreme guarantee of our liberties, and Great Britain is 
ruled by a more flexible and an unwritten Constitution. 

Our Constitution establishes a certain identity of civil and 
political rights between all subjects of the Crown, and it pro- 
vides that we Cubans must have our representatives in the 
Cortes, as do all other provinces of the kingdom. 

Our suffrage for the election of Deputies to the Cortes is 
even now, in my opinion, sufficiently ample, but it will be even 
more extensive under the new regime, so that the voice of 
Cuba may be heard on all questions of finance and of foreign 
affairs which interest and affect alike all portions of the 
kingdom. 

In connection and in harmony with the Local Assembly of 
Cuba there is no room for doubting that the national or im- 
perial Cortes will grant to us the fullest powers of self- 
administration and self-government that are possible under 
our Constitution and compatible with the unity of the 
Kingdom. 

I think that the Spanish Government will have fully satis- 
fied every reasonable and practical demand of the Cuban 
people. I expect that then the respectable but misguided 
elements of the insurrection will withdraw from the field, 
and that there will remain under arms only lawless adven- 
turers and irreconcilable enemies of law and order. 

The question of the adjustment of the indebtedness ensuing 
out of the war is, I admit, a difficult one, perhaps the most 
difficult one which the situation presents, but it is not an 
insuperable obstacle to peace, as some especially ill-informed 
publicists in foreign countries represent it to be. 

I believe the subject can be reasonably and equitably set- 



A New Era Is 
Dawning. 



Suffrage in 
Cuba Is Suf- 
ficiently. 
Ample. 



The Reasona= 
ble Demands of 

the Cubans 
Fully Satisfied. 



Adjustment of 

the War Debt 

Not an lnsur= 

mountable 

Obstacle. 



— 35 — 



The New Meas= 
ure Contains 
All Essential 
Elements of 
Self=Govern= 
ment. 



Sr. Labra's 
Statement. 



Autonomy the 

Best Guar= 

antor of the 

Nation's ln= 

tegrity. 



Sr. Fernando 
de Castro's 
Statement. 



tied by an arrangement between the Spanish and Cuban 
treasuries. 

Also from Senor Montoro, on another occasion, con- 
jointly with Senor Jose A. del Cueto, likewise a promi- 
nent member of the Autonomist party : 

In our opinion the reform measure is of the utmost im- 
portance, since the institutions based thereon are remarkably 
liberal, and the changes introduced in the present system 
are very radical. If understood and loyally appreciated 
they reveal the noble fulfillment of the promises contained 
in the Crown Speech and explained in the memorable sum- 
ming up of the debate in the Cortes on the 15th of July last 
by Senor Canovas. 

We believe that the above measure contains all the essen- 
tial elements of self-government, and that the amendments 
and extensions in scope that it may require in order to reach 
all the development possible within the national Constitution 
may well be left to the action of time, of public opinion and 
of local initiative, when, peace being restored, it will become 
possible for them to manifest themselves authoritatively. 
The Expository Preamble of the Royal Decree opens reason- 
able horizons to every loyal aspiration in that direction. 

The effects of the reform measure upon the public spirit 
cannot but be very favorable at the present moment, and 
they shall be more so according as the intentions of the 
Government become known. 

From Senor Labra, a distinguished Cuban jurist, 
Autonomist Member of the Cortes for the Island: 

Senor Canovas' plan of reforms implies a laudable change 
in the course of our colonial policy. It is necessary that we 
work on that basis. We may now expect from the Liberal 
Peninsular party a new determination and a more decided 
spirit in its attitude and in its course, since the step in advance 
taken by the Conservative party is really an exceptional one. 

As for me personally, I may say that I have never been 
pessimistic in politics, and that I have to-day additional 
reasons for reaffirming what I have always held, that colonial 
autonomy is the best guarantor of the honor, the strength 
and the integrity of the nation. 

From Senor Rafael Fernandez de Castro, a Cuban 
Autonomist, ex-Member of the Cortes for the Island : 

The reforms' represent a great progressive stride in Span- 
ish colonial policy. They are more liberal than those 



36 — 



embodied in the Reform Law of March 15, 1895, and of course A Great p ro= 
more of a fundamental nature than those prepared in his ^t^d^ 
bill by Mr. Maura in 1893. They are equivalent to a grand 
and decisive entry into a regime that the wise nature of 
things has been demanding here for some time ; that of 
Autonomy. 

From Senor Arturo Amblar, Member of the Cortes Sr. Ambiar's 

- ., T , , - ~ . Statement. 

for the Island of Cuba: 

I believe that the reforms will completely satisfy the long 
felt wishes of the people of Cuba, and that although they 
contain details of secondary importance that in practice will 
be corrected, they may be the means of bringing together 
many men hitherto of clashing opinions, and of gaining sup- 
porters to the national cause. 

From Senor Rabel, leader of the Cuban Reformist sr. Rabei's 

1 -r-> y~> CongratuIa= 

party, m a cable dispatch to Premier Canovas : tions. 

The executive committee of Reformist party, upon 
learning of reform measures, has resolved to compliment 
Your Excellency for the broad spirit that they reveal. By 
such consistent action Your Excellency will satisfy the 
legitimate aspirations of the people of this Island, who confi- 
dently expect the development of the plan of reforms, with 
the sincere co-operation of all the loyal elements of Cuba, 
in order to bring about peace, which everyone desires. 

The general applause with which the reform measures 
have been received is the best evidence of their merit. 

From Marquis of Apezteguia, a native of Cuba and statement of 

the Cuban 

leader of the Union Constitucional party (this, being the conservative 
"Tory" or Conservative party of the Island, has always 
opposed reform measures for Cuba in the direction of self- 
government) : 

The Union Constitucional party cannot oppose the work The Cuban 
of the Government. I have come to the Peninsula for the Conservatlve 

Party Will Not 

purpose of avoiding friction and in the interest of harmony, oppose the 
As to the effects of the reforms in Cuba, I believe that they Reforms. 
will have none directly upon the insurgents in arms. But 
the new measures will appeal to the reason of the pacific 
native elements and to foreigners in general, and this moral 

— 37 — 



force on our side will undoubtedly weaken the direct or in- 
direct support that the insurrection has received in some 
countries. 



From Senor Rosendo Fernandez, President pro tern, of 



Voice of the 
Havana Cham- 
ber of Com= the Havana Chamber of Commerce : 



merce. 



The Produce 

Exchange in 

Favor of the 

Reforms. 



Favorable 

Opinion of the 

Importers' 

League. 



I am positive that this Chamber of Commerce will nobly 
aid the Government in every measure tending to the attain- 
ment of peace and to the fostering of the moral and material 
interests of the Island on the indisputable basis of Spain's 
sovereignty. 

From Senor Marceiino Gonzales, President of the Havana 
Produce Exchange: 

The reforms having been studied out and prepared by so 
eminent a statesman as Senor Canovas del Castillo, and em- 
bodying, as the press reports show, such liberal measures of 
self-government, they cannot but be beneficial to commerce 
in general, which shall have more within reach the means of 
overcoming the obstacles it may encounter in the develop- 
ment of its foreign trade. 

From Senor Laureano Rodriguez, President of the Cuban 

Importers' League: 

It is my opinion that the reforms, after a revision of the 
electoral census (enrolment), when put into operation in a 
spirit of good faith, will satisfy the aspirations of the inhabi- 
tants of this Island. 



CUBAN PRESS COMMENTS. 



From El Pais, organ of the Autonomist party : 

The reforms should be received with satisfaction and The Cuban 
applause, and they should meet with our sincere co-opera- 
tion, for they go much further in the direction of self-govern- 
ment than the plans of either vSenor Abarzuza or Senor 
Maura. 

From the Diario dc la Matina, organ of the Reformist 

party : 

Thanks to the reforms we can now confidently say that the 
misfortunes of the Island of Cuba are soon to end. 

From La Lucha, Republican organ: 

The time has come for every honest man who has the wel- 
fare of Cuba at heart to exert all his influence and all his 
endeavors toward convincing those who are at present in 
arms that there exists no longer the reasons or the pretexts 
with which they pretended to justify their rebellion. 

From La Union Constitncional, organ of the party of 
that name (Conservative) : 

The Union Constitucional party will not set any obsta- 
cles in the way of the solutions which the home Govern- 
ment has prepared to the difficulties that beset out common 
country. 

From El Diario del Ejercito, organ of the army : 

Senor Canovas has once more shown the deep interest he 
takes in Cuban affairs by granting the Island such reforms as 
Ihe spirit of the times and the public requirements demanded. 



39 



FOREIGN PRESS COMMENTS. 



From Zr Gaulois, of Paris: 

As a whole the reforms planned by the Madrid Govern- The Foreign 
ment are of a nature calculated to satisfy the aspirations of Press. 
Cubans. If the latter should not consider themselves satis- 
fied they would forfeit the sympathy of European nations, 
who understand perfectly that the Spanish Government in 
granting to Cuba such liberal laws has gone in one bound to 
the limit which its dignity and its duty would allow. 

From L 'Eclair, of Paris: 

We must admit that in these circumstances Senor Canovas 
has not revealed himself a Conservative after the fashion of 
Guizot, who remained unmoved even while he foresaw prog- 
ress. Sehor Canovas resembles rather the great British Con- 
servative Robert Peel, who in 1846 did not hesitate to split 
his party in order to grant political liberties to the British 
people. 

From Le Temps, of Paris: 

If Senor Canovas del Castillo considers it necessary to 
grant to Cuba ample concessions it is, in the first placed 
because the urgency of establishing the reforms has appeared 
perfectly clear to him, and, in the second place, because he is 
perfectly satisfied that he can put them into effect without 
prejudice to Spain's honor or Spain's interests. 



The dispositions of the foregoing Royal Decree being The Reform 

.. ,.. ,.„. ., .. r . Law of March 

directed to the modification and extension m scope of the I5 1895) 

Reform Law of March 15, 1895, a proper understanding of \VinConn!2 

the former requires that the latter be referred to, and for tion with the 

Present fleas= 

this purpose the text in English of that law is hereunto ure. 
appended. 



41 



REFORM LAW OF HARCH 15, 1895. 

LAW FOR THE REORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERN- 
MENT AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION OF 
THE ISLAND OF CUBA. 

Alfonso XIII. , by the Grace of God and the Constitution, 
King of Spain, and, in his name and during his minority, the 
Queen Regent of the Kingdom : To all whom these presents 
shall come, know ye that the Cortes have decreed and we 
have sanctioned the following : 

ARTICLE I. The system of government and the civil ad- 
ministration of the Island of Cuba shall be readjusted on the 
following bases : 

BASIS I. 

The laws of municipalities and of provinces now in force in Provincial 
the Island are hereby amended to the extent necessary for d 

the following ends : riunicipaiities. 

The Council of Administration shall, upon the report of the 
Provincial Assemblies, decide all questions relating to the 
formation of municipalities, and to the determination of their 
boundaries. 

The law of provinces is hereby amended as to the matters 
placed by these bases within the powers of the Council of 
Administration. 

The Provincial Assembly shall decide all questions pertain- 
ing to the organization of Boards of Aldermen, to their elec- 
tion, to the qualification of the members and other similar 
questions. 

Each Board of Aldermen shall elect one of its members as 
Mayor. The Governor General may remove a Mayor and 
appoint a new Mayor, but the new Mayor must be a member 
of the Board. In addition to their functions as executive 
officers of the Boards of Aldermen, the Mayors shall be the 
representatives and delegates of the Governor General. 

Whenever the Governor General shall stay the resolutions 
of a municipal corporation* the matter shall be laid before 
the criminal courts, if the stay be due to misdemeanor com- 

* See note page 53. 

— 43 — 



Taxation. 



mitted by the corporation in connection with the resolutions, 
or laid before the Provincial Governor, upon the report of the 
Provincial Assembly, if the resolutions were stayed because 
they exceeded the powers of the Board, or because they in- 
fringed the law. 

The Provincial Governors may stay the resolutions of the 
municipal corporation, and censure, warn, fine or suspend the 
members of the corporations when they exceed the limits of 
their powers. 

Previous to removing Mayors or Aldermen, in the cases 
provided by law, the Governor General must give the Coun- 
cil of Administration a hearing upon the removal. 

Every member of a municipal corporation who shall have 
presented or voted in favor of a resolution injurious to the 
rights of a citizen shall be under a liability, enforcible before 
the court having jurisdiction, to indemnify or make restitu- 
tion to the injured party, the liability ceasing according to 
the rules of the Statute of Limitations. 
nunicipal Each Board of Aldermen shall, in matters defined as within 

the exclusive municipal powers, have full freedom of action, 
agreeably with the observance of the law, and with the 
respect due to the rights of citizens. In order that the 
Boards of Aldermen and the guilds* may fix the amount of 
the taxes to cover the expenses of the municipality and may 
determine their nature and their distribution, in accordance 
with the preference of each municipality, the Boards of 
Aldermen and the guilds shall have all the powers necessary 
thereto, that is compatible with the system of taxation of the 
State. 

The Provincial Assemblies may review the resolutions of 
municipal corporations relating to the preparation or altera- 
tion of their estimates of revenues and expenditures, and, 
while respecting their discretionary powers, shall see that no 
appropriation which exceeds the assets be allowed, and that 
arrears of previous years and payments ordered by courts 
having jurisdiction have the preference. The Governor 
General and the Provincial Governors shall in these matters 
have only the intervention necessary to insure the observance 
of the law and to prevent municipal taxation from impairing 
the sources of revenue of the State. 

The annual accounts of each Mayor, inclusive of revenues 

* For purposes of taxation the various trades are formed into 
guilds. Taxes on trades are apportioned among the guilds, whose 
officers fix the tax to be paid by each member according to the valu- 
ation of his business. 

— 44 — 



and expenditures, ordinary and extraordinary, shall be pub- 
lished in the municipality and audited and corrected by the 
Provincial Assembly, after hearing protests, and approved by 
the Provincial Governor if they do not exceed 100,000 pese- 
tas, and by the Council of Administration if they exceed that 
sum. The Provincial Assemblies and the Council of Adminis- 
tration shall determine if any officials have incurred liabili- 
ties, except in the cases that come within the jurisdiction of 
the ordinary courts. 

Appeals to the Council of Administration may be taken 
from the decisions of the Provincial Assemblies. 



BASIS II. 



The Council of Administration shall be organized as follows : 

The Governor General, or the acting Governor General, 
shall be President of the Council. 

The Supreme Government shall appoint by Royal Decree 
fifteen of the Councilors. 

The Council shall have a staff of secretaries, with the per- 
sonnel necessary for the transaction of its affairs. 

The office of Councilor shall be honorary and gratuitous. 

For appointment as Councilor the appointee must have 
resided in the Island during the four years previous to appoint- 
ment, and must have one of the following qualifications : 

To be or to have been President of a Chamber of Com- 
merce, of the Economic Society of Friends of the Country, 
or of the Sugar Planters' Association. 

To be or to have been Rector of the University, or Dean of 
the Corporation of Lawyers of a provincial capital for two 
years. 

To have been for the four years previous to appointment 
one of the fifty principal taxpayers of the Island, paying 
taxes on real estate, on manufactures, on trade, or on licenses 
to practice a profession. 

To have been a Senator of the Kingdom or a Representative 
to the Cortes in two or more legislatures. 

To have been two or more times President of a Provincial 
Assembly of the Island ; to have served for two or more terms 
of two years as member of the Provincial Executive Com- 

— 45 — 



The Council. 



Councilors 

Appointed by 

the Crown. 



mittee ; * or to have been a Provincial Assemblyman eight 
years. 

To have been for two or more terms of two years Mayor of 
a provincial capital. 

To have been, until the proclamation of this act, member 
of the Administrative Council for two or more years. 

The Council may, whenever it shall deem it expedient, 

summon to its deliberations, through the Governor General, 

any chief of department, but the latter shall not vote with 

the Council. 

Councilors To form the Council fifteen additional Councilors shall be 

Elected by the e i ec t e d bv voters having the qualifications requisite to vote 

People. _ . J . , . , , to 

for Provincial Assemblymen. 

The term of office shall be four years. The elections to fill 
vacated seats shall take place every two years, the Provinces 
of Havana, Pinar del Rio and Puerto Principe voting at one 
election, and the Provinces of Matanzas, Santa Clara and 
Santiago de Cuba voting at another. 

The Province of Havana shall elect four Councilors ; the 
Province of Santiago de Cuba shall elect three ; and each of 
the other provinces shall elect two. 

All the Councilors shall be elected at the same time : upon 
the establishment of this act, and after a total removal of the 
Council. Two years after the establishment of this act, or 
after a total removal of the Council, the Councilors from the 
first group of provinces above named shall vacate their seats, 
and their successors shall be elected.** 

In ordinary cases the election shall take place at the same 
time as the elections for Provincial Assemblymen, the votes 
for Councilor and for Assemblyman being cast together. 

The Council shall be the judge of the elections, returns 
and qualifications of the Councilors-elect and of the quali- 
fications of the Councilors appointed by the Crown, and shall 
decide all questions concerning its own organization under 
the law. 

BASIS III. 

The Council of Administration shall resolve whatever it 
may deem proper for the management in the whole Island ; 



* Each of the six provinces of Cuba— like every other Spanish 
province— has a Provincial Assembly. The Assembly meets twice a 
year in sessions of about two weeks, and appoints from its members 
a Provincial Executive Committee (comision provincial) to act dur- 
ing the intervals between the sessions. 

** At the next election the Councilors elected for the second group of 
provinces would vacate their seats. 

— 46 — 



of public works, posts and telegraphs, railways and naviga- 
tion, agriculture, manufactures, trade, immigration and 
colonization, public instruction, charities and the health 
department, without prejudice to the supervision and to the 
powers inherent to the sovereignty of the nation, which are 
reserved by law to the. Supreme Government. 

Each year it shall prepare and approve the estimates with 
sufficient appropriations for all those departments. It shall 
exercise the functions that the laws of provinces and of 
municipalities and other special laws shall attribute to it. It 
shall correct, and in the proper cases approve, the accounts 
of its revenues and expenditures, which accounts shall be 
rendered every year by the general management of the local 
administration,* and shall determine the liabilities therein 
incurred by officials. 

The local revenues** shall consist of : 

1. The proceeds of Crown lands and rents, and of the in- 
stitutions whose financial management pertains to the 
Council. 

2. The surcharges which, within the limits fixed by law, 
the council may add to the taxes imposed by the State. 

It shall be the duty of the Governor General, as superior 
chief of the authorities of the Island, to carry out the resolu- 
tions of the Council. 

For that purpose the general management of the local ad- 
ministration, as delegate of the Governor General, shall at- 
tend to the departments included in the local estimates and 
shall keep the books thereof and shall be responsible for the 
non-fulfillment of the laws and of the legitimate resolutions of 
the Council of Administration. 

Whenever the Governor General may deem any resolution 
of the Council contrary to the law or to the general interests 
of the nation, he shall stay its execution, and shall of his 
own motion take such measures as the public needs — which 
would otherwise be neglected — may require, immediately 
submitting the matter to the Minister of the Colonies. 

If any resolution of the Council unduly injures the rights of 
a citizen the Councilors who shall have contributed with their 
votes to the passage of the resolution shall be liable, before 



Powers of the 
Council. 



Revenues. 



* An office in charge of a superior official that under the Governor 
General act as the executive of the Council of Administration. 



** Revenues of which the Council of Administration may dispose. 
— 47 — 



the courts having jurisdiction, to indemnify or make restitu- 
tion to the injured party. 

suspension of The Governor General, after hearing the Council of Authori- 
of Council. ties ' ma y suspend the Council of Administration, or, with- 
out hearing the Council of Authorities, may suspend 
individual members of the Council of Administration as long 
as a number of Councilors sufficient to form a quorum 
remains : 

1. When the Council or any one of its members transgresses 
the limits of its legitimate powers, and impairs the authority 
of the Governor General or the judicial authority, or threat- 
ens to disturb the public peace. 

2. For a misdemeanor. 

In the first case the Governor General shall immediately 
inform the Supreme Government of the suspension, so that 
the latter may either set it aside or, through a resolution 
adopted by the Council of Ministers within two months, 
decree the removal. If at the expiration of the two months 
the suspension has not been acted upon, it shall, as a matter 
of right, be deemed set aside. 

In the second case, the matter shall come before the court 
having jurisdiction, which shall be the full Supreme Court 
of Havana, and its decision therein shall be final. In other 
cases the accused may appeal. 

Advisory The Council shall have a hearing : 

Powers of 

Council. i Upon the general estimates of expenditures and revenues 

of the Island, which estimates, prepared by the Finance 
Department of the Island, shall be submitted yearly, to- 
gether with the changes suggested by the Council, 
during the month of March, or earlier, to the Minister of the 
Colonies. , 

Although the Supreme Government may have varied the 
estimates before submitting them to the Cortes for appro- 
priations to meet the expenses of the departments and the 
general obligations of the state, it shall always submit with 
them, for purposes of information, the changes suggested by 
the council. 

2. Upon the general accounts, which the Finance Depart- 
ment of the Island must without fail submit annually within 
the six months following the end of the fiscal year, and which 
shall include the revenues collected and the expenditures 
liquidated, 



3. Upon the matters pertaining to the patronage* of the 
Indies. 

4. Upon the decisions of Provincial Governors which shall 
come on appeal before the Governor General. 

5. Upon the removals or suspensions of Mayors and Alder- 
men. 

6. Upon other matters of a general nature. 

The Governor General may demand of the Council the 
reports he may desire. 

The Council shall meet in ordinary sessions at stated inter- 
vals, and in extraordinary session whenever the Governor 
General mav summon it. 



BASIS IV. 



The Governor General shall be the representative of the 
National Government in the Island of Cuba. He shall as 
vice-royal patron exercise the powers inherent to the patron- 
age of the Indies. He shall be the Commander-in-Chief of 
the Army and Navy stationed on the Island. He shall be the 
delegate of the Ministers of the Colonies, of State, of War 
and of the Navy. All the other authorities of the Island shall 
be his subordinates. He shall be appointed and removed by 
the President of the Council of Ministers, with the assent of 
the Council. 

In addition to the other functions which pertain to him by 
law or by special delegation of the Government it shall be 
his duty : 

To proclaim, execute and cause to be executed, on the 
Island, the laws, decrees, treaties, international conventions 
and other mandates that emanate from the legislature. 

To proclaim, execute and cause to be executed the de- 
crees, Royal orders, and other mandates that emanate from 



Powers and 

Duties of 

the Governor 

General. 



* In England when lords of manors first built and endowed 
churches on their lands they had the right of nominating clergymen 
(provided they were canonically qualified) to officiate in them. This 
right is the "patronage" {jus fiatronafus) . The Bulls of Alex- 
ander VI. in 1493 and of Julius II. in 1508 granted the Crown of 
Spain the patronage of the Indies (New World). It includes not only 
the right of presentation to the churches and monasteries built and 
endowed by the Crown, but other rights so extensive that the author 
speaks of the Kings of Spain as the " born delegates of the Holy See 
and apostolic vicar-generals in the Indies." — Trans/a/or' s Note. 

— 49 — 



the executive, and which the Ministers, whose delegate he is, 
may communicate to him. 

To suspend the proclamation and execution of resolutions 
of His Majesty's Government, when in his judgment such res- 
olutions might prove injurious to the general interests of the 
nation or to the special interests of Island, informing the 
Minister concerned of the suspension, and of the reason 
therefor, in the speediest manner possible. 

To superintend and inspect all the departments of the 
public service. 

To communicate directly upon foreign affairs with the 
representatives, diplomatic agents and consuls of Spain in 
the Americas. 

To suspend, after consultation with the Council of Authori- 
ties, the execution of a sentence of death, whenever the 
gravity of the circumstances may require it, and the urgency 
of the case be such that there is no opportunity to apply to 
His Majesty for pardon. 

To suspend, after consultation with the same Council, and 
on his own responsibility, whenever extraordinary circum- 
stances prevent previous communication with the Supreme 
Government, the constitutional rights expressed in Articles 
IV., V., VI. and IX., and Sections 1, 2 and 3 of Article XIII. 
of the Constitution of the State, and to apply the Riot Act. 

It shall also be the duty of the Governor General as head 
of the civil administration : 

To keep each department of the administration within the 
limits of its powers. 

To devise the general rules necessary for the execution of 
the laws and regulations, submitting them to the Minister of 
the Colonies. 

To conform strictly to the regulations and orders devised 
by the Supreme Government for the due execution of the 
laws. 

To determine the penal institutions in which sentences are 
to be served, to order the incarceration therein of convicts, 
and to designate the jail liberties when the courts order con- 
finement therein. 

To suspend any public official whose appointment pertains 
to the Supreme Government, giving the Government imme- 
diate notice of the suspension, with the reasons therefor, and 
to fill pro tempore the vacancy in accordance with the regu- 
lations now in force. 

To act as intermediary between the Ministers, whose dele- 
gate he is, and all the authorities of the Island. 

— 50 — 



The Council of Authorities shall consist of the following 
members : The Bishop of Havana or the Reverend the Arch- 
bishop of Santiago de Cuba, if the latter be present ; the 
Commander of the Naval Station, the Military Governor, the 
presiding justice of the Supreme Court of Havana, the 
Attorney-General, the head of the Department of Finances, 
and the director of local administration. 

The resolutions of this Council shall be drawn up in dupli- 
cate and one of the copies shall be sent to the Minister of the 
Colonies. They are not binding upon the Governor General. 
All his acts must be upon his own responsibility. 

The Governor General shall not surrender his office nor 
absent himself from the Island without the express order of 
the Supreme Government. 

In case of vacancy, absence or inability the Military Gov- 
ernor shall be his substitute, and in default of the latter the 
Commander of the Naval Station, until the Supreme Govern- 
ment appoints a pro tempore Governor General. 

The criminal part of the Supreme Court at Madrid shall 
have the sole jurisdiction over the Governor General for in- 
fractions of the Penal Code. Charges of maladministration 
against th_ Governor General shall be brought before the 
Council of Ministers. 

The Governor General shall not amend nor revoke his own 
decisions when they : have been confirmed by the Supreme 
Government; or have vested rights; or have served as the 
basis of a judgment of a court, or of the adjudication of a 
mixed juridical administrative tribunal; or when he bases his 
decision upon the limitations of his powers. 



Council of 
Authorities. 



BASIS V 



The civil and financial administration of the Island, under 
the supervision of the Governor General, shall be organized 
in accordance with the following rules : 

The Governor General with his staff of secretaries, which 
shall be under the direction of a chief of department, shall 
attend directly to matters of government, the patronage of 
the Indies, conflicts of jurisdiction, public peace, foreign 
affairs, jails, penitentiaries, statistics, personnel of the de- 
partments, communication between all the authorities of the 
Island and the Supreme Government, and all the other mat- 
ters that are unassigned. 

The Finance Department, which shall be under the charge 
of a superior chief of department, shall attend to the whole 

— 51 — 



Civil and 
Financial Ad= 
ministration. 



management of the finances; it shall keep the books, and 
audit and submit the accounts of the estimates of the State on 
the Island. 

The provincial administrative sections shall be under the 
direct control of the Finance Department, without prejudice 
to the supervision that the Governor General may delegate in 
fixed cases to the Provincial Governor. 

The general management of local administration, under 
the charge of a superior chief of administration, shall attend 
to the departments that shall be supported with the appro- 
priations made by the Council of Administration ; it shall keep 
the books, and audit and submit the annual accounts of the 
estimates of the Council and of the municipalities, and shall 
enforce the resolutions of the Council of Administration. 

The personnel of the offices and the methods for the trans- 
action of affairs shall be adapted to the object of obtaining 
the greatest simplicity in the transaction of affairs and in fix- 
ing official responsibility. 

The rules of law shall determine the cases in which aright 
is vested through the decision of a superior official in a matter 
that, in accordance with this basis, falls within his jurisdic- 
tion, so that an action before the mixed juridical-administra- 
tive tribunal may lie. 

Nevertheless the injured party may at any time bring a 
complaint before the Governor General in matters which 
concern the Finance Department and the general management 
of local administration, and also before the Minister of the 
Colonies in any matter that concerns the administration or 
the government of the Island ; but the complaint shall not 
interrupt the administrative process, nor the legal procedure, 
nor the course of the action before the mixed juridical-admin- 
istrative tribunal. 

The Governor General and the Minister of the Colonies, 
when using their powers of supervision, either on their own 
initiative or owing to a complaint, shall refrain from inter- 
rupting the ordinary course of affairs, as long as there be no 
necessity of taking measures to remedy or prevent irre- 
parable damage, before the final decision of the competent 
authority. 

ARTICLE II.* 
Provincial ARTICLE III. The system of election and the division of 

Elections. ^he provinces into districts for the provincial elections shall be 



"-Article II. of this act refers exclusively to Porto Rico. Article 
III. refers both to Cuba and to Porto Rico. 



— 52 — 



modified by the Government, in order to enable minorities in 
both Cuba and Porto Rico to have representation in the 
municipalities and in the Provincial Assemblies, and in Cuba 
in the Council of Administration of Cuba, and in order- 
to apply to the election of Aldermen, Provincial Assem- 
blymen and Councilors of Administration — in so far as the 
qualifications of voters and the annual formation and recti- 
fication of the registration lists are concerned — the provisions 
of the Royal Decree of December 27, 1892, upon the reform of 
the electoral law for the election of representatives to the 
Cortes, Articles XIV., XV. and XVI. of the said Royal Decree 
shall be extended to all classes of elections. 

For all electoral purposes the taxes imposed by the Council 
of Administration in Cuba, and by the Provincial Assembly in 
Porto Rico, by virtue of the new powers granted to them by 
this act, shall be computed as if imposed by the State. 

ADDITIONAL ARTICLE. 

The Government shall render to the Cortes an account of 
the use it makes of the powers hereby granted to it. 

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS. 

1. The Councilors of Administration elected in the Island 
of Cuba upon the proclamation of this act shall stay in office 
until the first election for Provincial Assemblymen that hap 
pens after two years have passed since the first election of 
the Council. 

2. The rectification, according to the methods that shall be 
established under Article III. of this act, of the registration lists 
for the election of Aldermen and of Provincial Assemblymen 
in both Cuba and Porto Rico, and of Councilors of Adminis- 
tration in Cuba, shall commence from the time of the 
proclamation of this act. 

The Minister for the Colonies shall ordain, by Royal Decree, 
the necessary measures, and shall fix the time for the various 
operations of the rectification, so that it may be finished 
before any election take place to establish the Council of Ad- 
ministration in Cuba or to fill the seats of members of 
municipal corporations whose terms have expired. 

The election for the latter purpose shall under no circum- 
stances be postponed, except in the case of the Boards of 
Aldermen,* which, in this present year, and if the Supreme 

* Municipal corporations in Cuba, as in the Peninsula, have a 
Board of Aldermen {ayuntamiento) and a Municipal Council {junta 
municipal). 



Government deem it necessary, may be postponed until the 
first fortnight of next June. 

In subsequent years the rectification shall take place in the 
manner provided by the Royal Decree of December 27, 1892, 
referred to in Article III. of this act. 

Therefore : 

We order all the courts, justices, chiefs, governors and 
other authorities, civil, military and ecclesiastical, of whatso- 
ever class or dignity, to keep, and cause to be kept, fulfill 
and execute this act in all its parts. 

Given in the Palace, March 15, 1895. 

I, the Queen Regent. 

The Minister for the Colonies. 
Buenaventura Abarzuza. 



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